


i never stopped loving you

by just_in_cases



Series: always always always [2]
Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Anal Sex, Barebacking, M/M, Oral Sex, but no one else is around, sex in a public place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:48:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2698508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_in_cases/pseuds/just_in_cases
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick finally gets it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i never stopped loving you

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, Nick posted a Tracey Emin piece on instagram and it inspired me to write a follow up to Always Always Always.
> 
> All grammatical errors or fuck ups are my own.
> 
> Also, all of Louis' artwork used in the series belongs to Tracey Emin. I'm not claiming to own any of the artwork, nor is Louis.

**1 Year Later**

“Think that’s the last one, Lou,” Nick proclaims as he plugs in the last sign to the electrical outlet on the wall underneath it. Neon lights are emitting from the sign, allowing a green hue to shine on everything around it.

Nick glances towards Louis, who’s standing behind him, watches the green colour sweep across his face, bringing out the sharpness of his cheekbones. It’s times like these when Nick almost loses his breath at how beautiful his boyfriend is. 

Louis’ been quiet all night, and Nick knows exactly why. This is his first big exhibit since his showcase at university. Usually, Louis is all noise, fast paced and fidgety, can’t control his energy and always has to be doing _something_. But tonight, he’s the complete opposite. He’s subdued, hasn’t said much of anything since they arrived to set up the exhibit except a few mumbles about where pieces are supposed to go. 

Nick knows this is how he gets, knows it’s best to just let him be. It’s one of the things they’ve worked on since Louis’ last exhibit. They’ve come a long way over the course of the past twelve months, but they still don’t have everything figured out. They’re still learning each other, how they deal with things differently and what they need in certain situations. Nick knows that, right now, Louis just needs space to breathe, to take all of this in and to process all of it. He needs to be lost in his head for a little bit, Nick will help bring him out of it later.

The night of Louis’ grad school exhibit, the two of them fell into bed together, taking their time mapping out each other’s bodies. Nick remembers how Louis focused on his bird tattoo, took his time sucking a bruise into that patch of skin, the red and purple of the mark mixing with the black ink. “Mine,” he remembers Louis mumbling into his hip. 

And yeah, Nick’s his. Every last bit of him. Nick’s been his since he unknowingly insulted his work at the school art exhibit. And if Nick has anything to say about it, he’ll _always_ be Louis’.

There was no rush that night, hasn’t really been a rush since that night, either. They decided that they’re in this for the long haul, that they need to take their time learning all the bits and pieces of each other, instead of trying to push and pull it out like they had before.

They’re learning from their mistakes. They’re sticking to their promises.

The next morning, when Nick woke up, Louis was sitting up in bed, naked except for the sheet draped across his lap. His knees were slightly bent so he could rest his sketchbook on his legs, pencil in one hand while the other one rested on the paper. It was a brand new sketchbook, Nick could see that he was drawing on one of the first pages. 

It was a sign, Nick decided. They were getting a new start on their relationship. They were going to work on it together, transform it into something amazing, much better than what they had before. Take everything they learned and turn it into something beautiful. So it’s only right that Louis got a brand new start on his artwork, as well. His brand new sketchbook was filled with blank pages, ready to be filled with new thoughts and ideas, ready to be changed into whatever Louis wanted it to be. 

As he sketched, Louis’ face was scrunched up in concentration, but it wasn’t the harsh look of concentration Nick had seen so many times before. This time, he looked more at ease, like he wasn’t worried about what he was drawing, wasn’t trying so hard to pull something out of himself to put on his paper. This time, he was more relaxed, Nick could see it in his face along with the rest of his body.

“What are you working on?” Nick finally asked, sleep still coating his voice, as he pressed a lingering kiss to Louis’ exposed shoulder. 

Louis answered back with a kiss to Nick's forehead before clearing the grogginess from his throat, “Just some sketches. Felt inspired.”

“I like that I inspire you,” Nick admitted with a faint blush to his cheeks. And he really does. He likes that Louis draws inspiration from their relationship, even if it comes from the bad parts as well. 

Before Louis could respond, Nick was taking the sketchbook and pencil out of his hands, carefully, and placing them on the nightstand before whispering into Louis’ ear, “Let’s give you some more inspiration, yeah?”

Louis only had time to nod his head in response before Nick was kissing his way down Louis’ bare torso, taking his time to suck a matching bruise into his hip before his head disappeared under the sheet. 

“Jesus Christ, Nick,” Louis moaned as his boyfriend took him into his mouth, sucking him down until the tip of his cock nudged the back of Nick’s throat. It didn’t take long for Louis to reach his climax with Nick doing that thing with his tongue that Louis loved and missed so much. Then, without warning, he was coming down Nick’s throat, a white knuckle grip on the bed sheets as Nick swallowed around him. 

“Inspired?” Nick asked as he made his way back up Louis’ body, placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

“You have no idea,” Louis said through a smile.

They spent the rest of the morning in bed, napping after Louis got Nick off with his hand. That evening, after dinner, Louis went back to his sketchbook and Nick watched. 

It’s been twelve months of Nick watching Louis sketch and put pieces together. Twelve months of Nick silently watching his boyfriend work, not asking questions because he didn’t need to. He didn’t need to pull the meanings behind the artwork out of Louis. Not anymore. 

And now, hanging on the walls surrounding him, is the past twelve months of their lives, on display for all the gallery’s visitors to see starting tomorrow. 

Louis’ break happened thanks to Harry’s new boyfriend, Zayn. The four of them were drinking at Louis and Nick’s flat one night. After a few rounds, Zayn had to take a piss. Except, he took a wrong turn and instead of walking into the toilet, he opened the door to Louis’ studio. He was immediately very apologetic about it. 

At first, Louis was extremely upset. Nick could see it and he excused both of them from the living room and pulled Louis into their bedroom, shutting the door behind them. The two of them sat on their bed and Nick listened while Louis talked.

Louis explained that he hadn’t known Zayn for very long, and was still in the early stages of deciding if this bloke was even worth of dating his best mate. And now, he felt like his deepest darkest secrets had been exposed to this boy whom he barely knew. 

But he could see just how sorry Zayn was, and it truly was an accident. He wasn’t mad about it, just a little angry that someone got to see a piece of him that he tries so hard to keep secret. When they left the bedroom, he made sure Zayn knew that he wasn’t going to hold it against him. Nick’s not sure if Zayn or Harry was more relieved about that.

Later that night, when the drinks were dwindling, Zayn spoke up from where he sat on the couch across from Louis, Harry slowly nodding off in his lap. “You know, I work at an art gallery. Don’t know if Harry told you that or not. Your stuff is really great and I know we have an opening coming up in a couple of months. There’s about two weeks that aren’t booked, I think? I could talk to my boss, see what he thinks.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Louis asked, lowering his beer from his mouth. “You know how hard it is to get a showing in a legit gallery?”

“Yeah, mate. I mean, I work at one, so I know. And you’re work is good and I think you should get a chance to show it. I mean, if you want. I don’t want to like, step on any toes or anything. Just a thought is all.” 

“No, I mean. Thanks. Yeah, that’d be great, actually. You really think I could get the space?” Louis asked.

He was trying to hide his excitement, but Nick could see right through it. He had to bite back a smile because Louis deserved this more than anything, and Nick had been waiting for an opportunity to arise.

“Yeah, I’ll call him up tomorrow and let you know.” 

That was two months ago, and now, Nick and Louis are standing in the gallery, the night before Louis’ big opening night. It had all gone by so fast and tomorrow everyone would get to see Louis’ work.

Nick lets that sink in, how proud he is of his boyfriend. How far they’ve come this past year and how much he loves him. His eyes take one final sweep of the room until they land on Louis, who hasn’t moved from the spot in front of the final installation.

He doesn’t speak, simply takes the few steps separating the two of them and crowds into Louis’ space, wrapping his arms around Louis’ stomach and leaning down so his mouth is right next to his ear. “It’s going to be amazing, Lou. Your art is amazing. You’re amazing.” Nick presses a kiss to his neck right before the boy is turning around in his arms.

He doesn’t say anything at first, instead, he looks up at Nick, almost as if he’s searching his eyes for some sort of hesitance or uncertainty. Nick just stares back, unwavering, with as much love and admiration as he can communicate with only his eyes.

He isn’t sure what words are going to escape from Louis’ lips when he opens his mouth but he’s a little shocked to hear what words do fall out.

“Fuck me,” Louis says quietly. The art gallery is empty, everyone who was help set up went home over an hour ago, leaving just the two of them to finish up, so it sounds a lot louder than it was intended.

“Anything you want, babe. Let’s just get the rest of stuff cleaned up and then we can go home and to bed.” Nick responds, fingers brushing Louis’ fringe off of his forehead. 

“No,” Louis retorts, “want you now. Right here.”

For a brief moment, Nick thinks about being the responsible one, reminding Louis that they’re in the middle of an art gallery and the owner gave them the space to showcase Louis’ work, not to have sex in. But then, Nick takes another glance around the room and is reminded that he’s done denying Louis of things. He did that enough the first two years they were together and he’s not going to do it anymore.

Which is how he finds himself on the floor or the art gallery, Louis writhing underneath him as he slowly takes him apart with his fingers. The last thing he wants is to hurt Louis, so he makes sure that he’s fully prepped before pulling his fingers out and pulling the condom out of Louis’ pocket.

When Louis catches sight of it, he fervently shakes his head. “Just want you.”

Nick hesitates at first. It’s not like they’ve never done it without condoms before, but they don’t do it often. And usually, it’s when Louis’ fucking Nick. So he’s a little taken back by Louis’ request, but it doesn’t stop him from giving his boy what he wants. “Yeah babe, just me. _Us_ ” Nick places a kiss to Louis’ forehead before grabbing the lube and slicking himself up.

He braces one hand next to Louis’ head and uses the other one to guide himself into Louis. As he presses against his hole, Louis turns his head and places a gentle kiss to Nick’s wrist. 

He watches Louis’ forehead scrunch up as he’s stretched out on Nick’s cock. And he’s still not sure there’s any better sight than that, watching this boy completely fall apart underneath him. Nick sometimes wishes he could frame it and put it on the gallery wall.

He pushes in until he’s bottomed out, their hips meeting, and Louis is breathing heavy underneath him, adjusting to the stretch, waiting for the slight pain of it to be replaced with pleasure. When he’s finally ready, he gives Nick the go ahead. “Move. God, Nick do _something._ ”

Nick starts rocking his hips as he bends his head to start working a love bite into the other boy’s neck. “Fuck Louis. So fucking amazing.” He says between nips to the exposed skin, never stopping his hips from thrusting, eliciting moans from Louis that fill the quiet air of the empty gallery.

Louis wraps his legs around him, clinging to him like his life depends on it. Nick can feel Louis’ fingernails digging into his shoulder blades, knows there’ll be small crescent shaped marks left there for the days to follow. He’s not going to complain though. He likes having little reminders of Louis to carry with him during the day. It’s the exact reason why he got the bird tattooed on his hip. He likes having Louis with him, even when he’s not physically around.

“Fuck, I’m so close, Nick.” Louis whines from where he’s laying on the floor. He’s grasping at any part of Nick’s body he can get his hands on, trying to find something to ground him as Nick fucks into him.

“Yeah, babe. Let go. Come for me.” And that’s all it takes for Louis to come between them where their stomachs are pressed together. Nick was already close, and the sight of Louis’ face as he came combined with the increased tightness from the boy’s orgasm was enough to send him over the edge, filling Louis up with one final thrust.

He pulls out of Louis, carefully, as to not make a huge mess on the floor. But it’s useless once he sees his come start to drip from Louis’ arse. “Should probably look for a maintenance closet, mop this floor up. Maybe send a fruit basket or something to the owner. Think they make cards for things like this? ‘Sorry We Fucked On Your Art Gallery Floor’ or something like that? Don’t think this was in the contract you signed.” Nick says as he rolls over onto his back to lay on the floor next to Louis. 

They’re laying under the last piece of art they installed. The green light illuminating the wall around where it’s hanging, all other colours in the room subdued.

Nick reaches for his jeans and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He punches in his passcode, Louis’ birth date, and opens up Instagram.

He centers the neon words in the frame and takes the picture before finding the perfect filter and posting it for everyone to see. “Like a preview for tomorrow,” Nick says as he refreshes his instagram feed. The picture is at the very top in bright green lights.

“I never will, either, you know.” Louis says quietly from beside him. It’s a promise, Nick knows. A promise that he knows they can make now. 

A couple of years ago, Nick would have been terrified to hear those words. But now he knows what it means to both of them, and he’s not scared anymore.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” He leans over and presses a kiss to Louis’ temple. “Me neither.”

When he pulls back, he can see the happiness on Louis’ face.

He finally gets it.


End file.
